This archive report was first published on 18 July 2019.
On July 18, 2019, an Australian court handed down a 10-month parole sentence to former Kenyan TV anchor Esther Arunga in connection with the murder of her three-year-old son, Sinclair Timberlake.
Esther pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to manslaughter, admitting that she misled police to help her husband, Quincy Timberlake, escape punishment.
According to court records, Sinclair suffered fatal injuries at the family home in Kallangur, north of Brisbane, on June 18, 2014. An autopsy revealed that the child died from severe blunt force trauma, which was inconsistent with a fall down the stairs.
Esther initially told police that her son had fallen down the stairs, but later changed her statement, claiming that her husband had hit Sinclair in the stomach and thrown him against the wall.
Quincy Timberlake, a former Kenyan presidential candidate, was charged with Sinclair's murder but was involuntarily admitted to a mental health facility before he could be arrested.
Esther's inaccurate account of the events delayed the investigation and her husband's arrest, with Crown prosecutor Danny Boyle stating that she was the only eyewitness to the 'brutal killing' of her son.
